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8/10 Better then the last

I recently upgraded form windows XP to vista and its clear that the improvement is a good one, the looks of everything have been changed and graphically upgraded. The smoothness of the software is flawless and the amount of new tools is also great.

My favorite small update is the side toolbar that allows you to add tools like a clock, WiFi graph, calculator and lots of others. Some background themes move which is a creative idea and makes the whole package seem professional.

The package does cost a decent amount of money for what you get and upgrading from windows XP or windows 98 it is a good improvement worth every penny.

The instillation of windows was very well laid out, it was easy to read therefore it was easy to use and understand. Once the software is all installed you need then to download and install all the windows service packs to make it all up to date this took the longest to do and I had to restart my computer countless times until everything was installed.

Overall good update from the last and its worth the purchase if you do not yet own it.

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A decent OS when it works, but it could have been so much better

Windows Vista home premium came installed on my computer. If I'd had the choice I'd rather have had XP. With the specification of my computer Vista does run fine, although I'm sure it would be much faster with XP. However, I decided to stick with Vista as it did seem ok. There have been a number of times though when my computer has crashed because of Vista and many things that run which slow down the computer, half of which I have no idea what they even do (if anything at all). There are certain things which I have read you can stop running in the background, but due to it being the Operating System (so rather important) I figured it was best to just let it all run rather than risk stopping the wrong thing.

Design:The main design is still very similar to previous Operating Systems. You have the task bar at the bottom which includes the clock and other icons on the right. The Start button is slightly different, showing the Windows logo rather than saying Start. The menu is also different. I have gotten used to the menu, although I found it much easier to find what I wanted on XP and before. With Vista the main options such as My Computer and Control Panel are at the right side and all recently used programs are on the left. At the bottom you can select All Programs to see everything. As everything is just in one list it can take me a while to find what I want, especially as I have quite a few programs.

The Control Panel windows are a bit different to Windows XP as some icons are labelled differently, but you can always put it in Classic View which is useful.

Unlike XP and before, Vista organises folders better. There is Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos folders under each user. I always used to make folders with these names anyway so I haven't noticed much difference as far as files being more organised goes. Under each I still have many other folders so things can still get confusing and become hard to find.

Features:There's nothing really new about Vista in the sense of features. You still have Paint, notepad, Windows Movie Maker and the option to change your desktop, screensaver and so on. You get a better selection of desktop and screensaver images and some do look like they have more depth to them, although they're not 3D.

One new thing, which can be seen as good or bad, is the preview you get when you hover over the windows in the task bar. As you hover over them it will bring up a small preview above the bar which shows you what that window is. In one respect this is great. You can find the window you want without opening them all up properly and it is usually detailed enough so that you can see exactly what things are. If, for example, you are on Youtube you can hover over the window and see the preview with the video and be on something else. On the other hand if someone else is with you and you are trying to avoid them seeing something they may see it anyway if you accidentally hover over it. It can also make the computer freeze a moment if you are trying to do something which takes a lot of power and you hover over a window.

Sidebar:The sidebar is a nice extra to Vista, although having said it can make the computer slower if you are running a few other things. The sidebar allows you to put different features at the side such as a clock, the weather or notes. You can get loads of these features and all for free. Some are pointless, but nice to look at while others are designed to help you.

I used to use the sidebar more when I first started using Vista as it was interesting to see what different features were like. Now I rarely use it. Only time I am likely to use it is if adding the note feature as this can be helpful sometimes as I can write a note to remind myself of something and it will always be there. This is, of course, more useful if you use the computer a lot as then there is a constant reminder there otherwise you have to remember to turn on your computer and you can't have a reminder on your computer for that for obvious reasons.

Windows Movie Maker:Windows Vista comes with Windows Movie Maker. This has been updated since XP and unfortunately is even worse. Windows Movie Maker, or WMM for short, has always been known to crash and this version is no better. On top of that useful features have also been removed such as being able to play a video and save any part of it as an image.

Paint:Paint has also had an update. It's nowhere near close to programs like Photoshop, but if you want to simply crop an image or mess around then Paint does the job well. The design of Paint has been updated, although the main features are all the same.

Compatibility:Apart from one game which I've never been able to play on any computer due to either low specs or the wrong spec now I have Vista, I've had no problems with compatibility. There are many things which will not be compatible with Vista. Some things do have downloads so you can use them though. Some games will also run in compatibility mode. This always you to select to run it in XP or before and as soon as you exit the game it will return to Vista.

Overall:Some may say the interface is easy to use and looks better, but personally I don't really think it is a great improvement on XP and it has far too many bugs. Out of all the Operating Systems I prefer XP. Vista is alright when it works, but nothing special and not good enough to make me want to upgrade to Windows 7.

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It's not perfect but what operating system is?

I have been running Vista Home Premium on all of my computers for around three years now, and I have to say I am getting really tired of all the insults that go towards it. Windows 7 is a better operating system than Windows Vista. I'm not going to deny that. However, 7 is also much more expensive than Vista, and money is not something I have in abundance at the moment. And in my years of Vista, I have come to appreciate things about it, to the point where I would actually prefer to use Vista over XP. So as you read review, remember to keep in mind that I am speaking in terms of past OS. Obviously 7 is a better OS, but it also more new so that would be expected. Basically I am trying to make the point that if you can't afford W7 right now, Vista is a great alternative. Anyway, let's get on to why I like it so much.

.:Beautiful:.Vista has, in my opinion, the nicest GUI (Graphic-User Interface) that I have ever seen from any other Windows product. W7 is nice, but I still believe that Vista has a much more sleek feel to it. The taskbar is smaller and has that traditional feel to it, but at the same time has that modern OS look. Overall, it may not be comparable to Mac OSX or Ubuntu 10 in terms of beauty, but Vista is still one of the nicest Windows products as far as looks go.

.:Fast:.W7 is indeed faster than Vista. But it is also newer. Still, Vista in comparison to any previous OS (cough, XP) is like comparing Usain Bolt to a cheetah. Your old computer might be very fast.. but Vista is the cheetah, it's simply much faster. I guess you could say I'm okay with computers, and after messing around with a couple settings, I now have my bootup time to around 14-16 seconds on my laptop. XP seems to take twice that time. Seriously, the jump in speed from XP to Vista basically cuts the startup time in half. For Windows 7 is only takes 3-4 seconds off the time, making the difference in speed much more drastic from XP to Vista.

.:Simply Works:.You've seen the Mac commercials all about Vista and its vast number of bugs. So why is it that in years of using it on multiple computers, the number of problems I have had with Vista being buggy could be counted on my hands? Many times I've talked to fellow tech-geek people I know who laugh at the fact that I'm using Vista and still have yet to upgrade to W7. They ask how the bugs are doing. My answer is almost always the same; what bugs did you personally have with Vista. Here's a news flash for you people; every OS has thousands of bugs. But with the amount of things you can do with a computer being so high, the odds of you ever actually coming across some of these problems is actually relatively low. Vista had the unfortunate reputation, for many problems with it were discovered early on. But so long as you're connecting to the internet, you simply update Vista with all of the patches Microsoft has figured out and you're good to go. Not buying an OS because there USED to be lots of problems with it is like never eating McDonalds because one time you ate there they gave you a medium coke rather than a large.

.:Overall:.So what exactly is the point of this review you may ask. As I said before, Windows 7 is superior to its predecessor in most ways (wow, who would have guessed). But hey, we can't all afford to shell out £100 every time a new Windows OS comes out. I guess my overall point with this would be to simply say that if you don't have much money to spend on a new computer and you're given the opportunity to choose between XP and Vista, I think its worth it for you to come over to the Vista side of things and check it out. You won't find everything perfect. But you might find what I have; speed and reliability, and who really needs anything else from their computer anyway?

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Stick with XP if you have it, or get Window's 7!

Windows Vista has to be the worst collection of bad decisions made by a leading international company with the experience and dedication of Microsoft. In my eyes, Vista has and always will remain a failure in the world of high-tech operating systems, and here's why...

The memory usage of this software is extremely high, and much greater than Windows XP, Vista's predecessor. This means programs can run slower on a lesser specced PC, causing great aggravation for the user. The annoying thing about this high memory intake is that it's been assigned to help create some of the most pointless extras. - The ability to scroll through open documents from a sort of zoomed out, angular position is only slightly useful, as windows can be seen along the bottom of the screen anyway. - The 'jazzing up' of the main bars across the bottom and top your screen is another pointless addition to the system. Yes, they look a lot nicer than XP, but they use an awful lot of memory which only slows the system.- An added side column with the option to add such sections as a weather and temperature reminder, and a small (useless) notepad has been included with this edition. As with everything else, these slow your computer down and improve its usability very little.

Perhaps Vista's biggest problem though (from personal use), is its persistent addiction with asking your permission for everything! Of course Microsoft included the option to turn most of the annoying messages off, but many still appear day in day out and you feel you're threatening your computers security in disabling them. Similarly, anti-virus software's and games can conflict with Vista (especially older games, which Vista sometimes fails to even recognise) as they go against its blockages and protocols, preventing their running.

So putting all the negatives aside, what's good about this particular OS?Well, it still runs smoothly enough (after installing all the updates), and as with all of Microsoft's Window developments, it plays host to a whole range of capabilities in software and hardware additions. Vista has the added 'voice recognition' function which can be very fun (if not, not useful) to have a play around with. And the 'windows media player' has been improved in several ways, with added animations and a better layout.

Overall though, this is unimpressive in comparison with Windows XP, and really it should never have been designed so heavily. Never fear though, as Windows 7 has arrived and that seems to offer a vast improvement over Vista with the obvious simplification and rearranging of certain features and areas.

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Not the best Windows

Windows is one of the major computer software brands that compete with the likes of apple with their Mac's. I find Windows to be more so for office work where lots of work processing is done, and Apple's for the more design savvy people such as architects. Windows Vista was released Jan 2007, as the newer version of Windows following Windows XP.

* 800 megahertz (MHz) processor and 512 MB of system memory * 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space * Support for Super VGA graphics

I find that most people prefer Windows XP to Windows Vista, and I am one of those people. Windows XP had quite a long life span in terms of how long it was on the market before a newer version was released, unlike Vista, which has now had a newer version of Windows 7 released too.

Windows Vista runs quite slowly on start up. My laptop which has a 250GB hard drive and 3GB takes two and a half minutes to load, compared to a new windows 7 installed laptop that only takes 20 seconds. Vista also takes a lot of processing and software space, which will lead to a n increase in electricity consumption.

Advantages of Vista:

- A new GUI (Graphical User Interface) including the appearance of windows, the start button, the start menu and taskbars etc. When windows are minimized, if the mouse is over the bar at the bottom of the page, it will appear as a small screen. The start menu no longer has the word 'start'; simply a small windows icon.

- The latest version of Windows Media Player is included in the Vista package.

- Date and time from around the world can be displayed at the same time as where the user is.

- An in built program called Photo Gallery. Previews of movies can also be shown whereas they could not on XP.

Overall, most people would chose XP over vista, and I am one of them. I am not looking to upgrade from Vista to the new Windows 7 as I have never liked this. I would give Vista 6 out of 10 and would not really recommend it.

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Buy XP of Windows 7 instead

I have always been a huge fan of Windows XP, which was easy to use, pretty to look at, fast, and just *worked*, and never gave me any problems whatsoever. I wouldnt have "updated" to Vista if I could have avoided it, but my next PC came bundled with it so I ended up giving it a try. What's the worst that could happen, right?

Well, windows Vista is nothing short of an abomination. First of all the makers have decided to change around lots of pre-existing features, so for example Add/Remove Programs now has a completely different (and rather cryptic) new name instead, meaning that it can take you ages working your way around to find functions that youve used before a thousand times. It also looks far clunkier than Windows XP, but that could be forgiven, were it not for the fact that Windows Vista is incredibly unstable and often horrendously slow. Ive lsot count of the number of times that programs have locked up or crawled along for no apparent reason; even navigating subdirectories can sometimes take ages becuase vista concentrates on attempting flashy, pointless displays of files that serve no purpose but to irritate and slow everything down to a craw.

Its very badly programmed, and many users have attacked microsoft, accusing them of essientially releasing a Beta version OS at full-price. Nowhere is thsi poor programming more evident in the fact that games require a much higher spec (almost double, sometimes) to run on Vista than they do on XP. Many of the problems with Vista were eventually sorted out by the release of the rather decent Windows 7, which is more like XP as regards functionality and ease of use, and Windows 7 is worth checking out, but under no circumstances should you pay for the half-finished drivel that is Windows Vista. Avoid like the plague.

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Don't get rid of what you have. The next Microsoft OS is always worse.

Rumour has it that when Marlon Brando was looking for inspiration prior to delivering the classic line '...the horror...the horror' he had in fact just tried to load a copy of Windows Vista. Rumours have yet to be confirmed that Martin Sheen killed Marlon Brando in retaliation for getting rid of his XP and replacing it with Vista.

Anyway, Windows Vista. It's not very good. Unless of course you have Windows 7 in which case it's amazing. And if you have XP, then don't just don't. It's not worth it. If any company truly believed in the law of diminishing returns then Microsoft it is.

Released to the publin in January of 2007 and consisting of six versions: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and of courseIf my boss sees all the money i've spent on this piece of crap i'm dead edition.

Home Premium was at the time supposed to deliver everything that a home PC user would require of their operating system. The fact that Microsoft had Windows 7 in dvelopment before releasing this was not a good sign.

Home Premium including all of the features of the home basic such as the Windows Firewall, parental controls and Windows Photo Gallery as well as support for HDTV. It was marketed on the back of being much more secure than previous operating systems such as XP, which it was.

One of the big problems however was the requirements of the computer to operate. You need a processor speed of 1ghz and 1GB of RAM. You can o it with less but carrier pigeons and smoke signals will soon become your friend.

Other problems, and there were many could be rectified with the use of patch. To such an extent that you will inevitably call your PC Patch Adams. Not because of all the patches, but because your PC will be a worthless pile of ****. Just like the Robin Williams movie of the same name. (Apologies to fans of that movie).

After having this OS for the past four years and after all the countless problems, I do have to admit that it no passes as a working OS. Much in the same way that XP was before it. It just seems to me that Microsoft treats it's customers as guinea pigs in order to test the software. You can't help but feel that if someone with enough backing where to take a crack at the market, they would shut Bill Gates down or at the least make him act a little more responsibly and provide goods worthy of the cost.

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I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!

I should point out that whilst I am computer literate I am in no way a computer whiz kid so if you are looking for anything with any technical jargon or any real substance then you are probably wasting your time reading this. I am the kind of person who wants things to be simple, easy to use and just generally do what I want it to. I found my computer did this before I got a new one which came with vista as standard.

The truth is I find Windows Vista intolerable, it frustrates and infuriates me to the point I want to chuck my laptop out the window, however having sky lights makes this a bit difficult. Vista appears incompatible with endless programmes, it takes an age to download something and often only does so after at least several attempts. Whilst this is annoying at the best of times it has also become a huge inconvenience. I am currently looking for a new job, but vista seems intent on hindering any possibility. Due to its' incompatability I am unable to download any job applications or any other documents related to the job. I have even asked friends to download the info and send it to me via e-mail but even this does not work. Am I asking too much?

Vista came as standard with the computer so next time I get a new laptop I will be opting for one without vista. I have read reviews that say vista is meant to be very easy to use but I figure they are lying or I am seriously challenged.

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A pointless OS that doesn't seem to provide many new benefits apart from looking pretty

I bought a laptop with this pre-installed on it. I heard the negative reviews from people talking about it being a ram hog but I needed a new PC so didn't have much choice considering that virtually all the new computers at the time were installed with Vista.

What people said was true, it is indeed a ram hog. Applications didn't exactly run smooth and this is on a 4gb laptop.

I managed to do a few tweaks to the OS by turning off aero etc and the OS now runs much more smoothly.

I don't rate Vista much at all because of the ram factor, there is a reason why Microsoft bought out Windows 7!

There are no new features that have made things any easier or convenient as such.

If you already have XP, stick with that, it's much more easier on ram and it's just as good as Vista.

Vista doesn't provide any new benefits and my friends share that same opinion.

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Buy Windows 7

People who don't like change are stuck on XP. People who like the next generation are using Windows 7. People who are stuck in a transition period use Windows Vista, and thats my personal view on it. I preferred XP after Vista came out and I bought a laptop with Vista on, it wasn't what I was used to, it asked me to permiss myself to do things which is a bit silly to be fair (this option can be turned off though, its called User Account Control).

I enjoy using Windows Vista but I don't think they finalised it and made it so it was optimal for performance, I think they shipped out this product half heartedly to make a bit of money and get some feedback while they continued to Work on Windows 7, thats what it feels like, Vista is not efficient, needing 2Gb of ram to just run smoothly its clunky if you buy a budget PC that will almost certainly come with 1GB ram meaning your struggling from the moment you turn the PC on, let alone multi-tasking.

There are some nice features, feels like you have more control and options and has some nice displays at the cost of system processing power and RAM memory

There are 2 versions which are 32 bit and 64 bit both of which are pretty identical apart from the RAM limitations on the 32 bit which will only allow you to have about 3.4GB Ram utilized, the 64 bit OS you can pretty much add what you want, its quite a high figure, something like 128GB RAM but don't quote me on that.

I think although its newer and will need a service pack soon to fix any known bugs I would prefer Windows 7 as my operating system because its basically a refined and reformed version of Vista and its what Vista should've been in the first place. I've had countless problems with wireless networking and still to this day cannot seem to connect to my wireless router all the time if I use security, this is not just a problem I am experiencing, look at Google.

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No more than XP with a bit of makeup

This operating system was a successor of Window XP. At first I thought it was little more than XP in lingerie, and after using Vista for a few months. I didn't really have any different a view point on it. he control panel was annoying set out, the former features of XP were pretty much the same however they were confusingly renamed. Which I can imagine would not be much good to an older person or to a less computer literate user. The one good thing about Vista when compared to XP is that when it is installed, you do not have to install drivers for the majority of your hardware, the reason being that as standard it has a very large driver database. Meaning if you are upgrading from XP to Windows Vista you no longer have to manually install your Audio and Video drivers. This saves potentially hours of time. As features go, the only different thing I have noticed is the Aero interface, which I deem, pretty useless. The rest is simply a new look. No more no less

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Choose Windows 7 if you want a change from XP

Windows Vista was Microsoft's successor to Windows XP but instead of being a successor it was deemed terrible by most reviewers and most people skipped from Windows XP straight to the latest Microsoft operating system Windows 7. I bought a laptop pre-loaded with Vista a couple of months before Windows 7 was released and instantly regretted my hasty decision.

So there are a few advantages of owning Vista over XP, first of all the layout is a lot more user friendly with a graphical user interface of the things that you are most likely to click (i.e internet etc.). Also there are some new features that are useful, for example, the method of how you update security and software for the computer has been simplified through Windows Update and is a lot easier to use.

However there are a lot more disadvantages to owning Vista than there are advantages. The system requirements that Vista needs to run is quite high and if your system does not have a specification a lot higher than the requirements your computer will be extremely slow. The start up time for Vista is also extremely slow and you could probably go and take a quick shower while it loads up. It has to load up masses of features, most of which are pointless and of which you will hardly ever use. Most of the good features have been included in Windows 7 and most of the useless ones have been left out.

if you want a new operating system I would recommend you to buy Windows 7 as a much improved successor to the flawed Windows Vista.

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an operating system you collect weekly in parts !

XP was my introduction to home computers and after using 98 and 2000 in work, XP was refreshing and enjoyable.

Not so with Vista - been quite short lived and I think it should never have been released in the first place.

It is slow and clumsy and although in this laptop I upgraded to dual processors I find it cannot compare to XP for efficiency.

Starts ups are so slow no matter what and it eats my processor and other resources like a starving animal I really wished I had not bought this laptop with Vista.

Okay, so you can flip through little windows of your open applications etc ... so what?

I want my computer/laptop to work efficiently, not just be pretty. What else was Vista supposed to be better at (scratching head here????) there has been that many clashes with software I purchased and other hardware I nearly cried at times. Vista doesn't even get along with other Microsoft stuff at times!

Vista was released far too early and I think we were all betas for it while they counted the cash. I have that many updates and urgent security installations I feel like I have bought Vista in tiny releases.

Buy another computer with Vista? Never and I would think twice and look long and hard at 7 when it comes out.

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Get Windows 7, skip Vista

I have used both XP, Vista and Windows 7. XP was a fairly good operating system, and at present is the standard for most homes and buisnesses.

Vista is a resource hungry operating system, and there are no 2 ways about it. Doing nothing pushes RAM usage to about 30% or 40%, and CPU usage is never below 5%. Vista is a pretty, easy to use and reliable-ish system, but it is in no way efficient.

There are many usefull features which make it better than XP, but there are countless annying ones aswell, such as the security warnings. I realise they have thier place and purpose, but mostly they are irritating.

With the introduction of windows 7, you would be mad to buy this operating system. Windows 7 is basicaly Vista, but efficient, faster, more reliable, and widely appreciated to be the next standard operating system.

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Send the power hungry beast to the software grave

Windows 7 has breached and Windows XP is still THE single most popular operating system in existance. So what happened to the little section in the middle, the system we call 'Vista?'

I personally like Vista, it's pretty and lively with lots of nice little features and shiny graphics and applications. But then I have a system that can handle it. The story is different for those with low RAM or an inferior chipset regardless of if you have a 'dual core' or 'turion x2.'

The problem is this. Vista is one big bloated flashy operating system. It is a power hungry beast. Everytime you switch on your machine Vista gobbles up all the available memory and power it can find and refuses to give it back. This results in your system slowing down drastically and requiring more regular 'housekeeping.' It's for this reason that companies with budgets don't even consider Vista and stick to the thrifty XP. In my research I have heard stories of Vista actually affecting electricity bills adversely because of it's need for power and memory to run at it's best.

As such Microsoft will pretend it never happened and move on with the excellent 'Windows 7.' 'Windows 7' will actually offer you the chance of running in XP mode to allow easy use of 'XP' software and documents - many of which were labelled unusable by 'Vista.'

'Vista' is full of flashy animations, desktop icons and gadgets - all unnecessary showing off. 'Vista' is the pretentious result of Microsoft flexing it's software muscle - and backfiring. After losing a bundle in business and home use licenses Microsoft will hope to recover it's fans with '7.' And I'm sure it will - '7' is looking truly superb, back to ease of use, thinking again about the consumer and their needs rather than what can be done by their super clever graduate programmers.

If you haven't got it, don't bother. XP is still a strong option and very cheap. Alternatively '7' is looking superb from early investigation and initial pricing between £40 and £50 means it is not beyond reach.

Ultimately Vista failed because it couldn't provide what we needed. It is impressive with massive capabilities but it requires equally impressive hardware to display it to it's potential, isolating the majority of the population. Time to move on.